Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Invade. Destroy. Repeat.

During the early days of this blog, I talked about music a
lot. However, that was a long time ago. My tastes have changed a lot in the 5
years since we started this whole thing. What I listen to in my day to day life
say, driving to work, is also very different than the music that works with
writing, and both of those things are different than what goes along with the
aesthetic of the novels. I made a post about a kind of soundtrack for Stealing Ganymede a while back. That wasn’t the music that I listened to while
writing, mind, but music that might go along with the novel (if you’re one who
likes to listen to music while reading).

One of the constants in my life, though, has been the band
Powerman 5000.

I know it’s not cool to like hard rock or metal bands. I’m supposed to
convince you that I listen to music that is filled with loneliness, ukuleles,
and xylophones. I’m supposed to name check at least one group that is working
to re-interpret 80s synths in order to be cool and artsy. I’m supposed to
debate the value of Kanye West.

Thing is, though? I fucking hate those bands. Xylophones are
the fastest way to make me shut off a record and never listen to it again. And
if I want great synths, I’ll go back and listen to the original artists. Why
would I want Duran Duran knock-offs when I have an extensive Duran Duran
playlist? And I cannot stand what Hip Hop has become. Anyone who thinks of
Kanye West in the same way they think about Grandmaster Flash should be locked
away.

To return to my point, though: I have made no secret of the
fact that David Bowie is, to me, the greatest musical artist who has ever
lived. The reasons aren’t just contained in the music, though. With the
invention of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, The Thin White Duke, Adler, and
whatever the current character might come to be called, Bowie created an idea
that is really powerful to me—the idea that the singer/songwriter does not
necessarily have to present simply him- or herself. Other bands took this idea
and ran with it: Gene Simmons creates “The Demon,” Alice Cooper creates “Alice
Cooper” who is a rock and roll villain. Marilyn Manson pushes that idea even
further, not just playing the villain, but actively trying to draw ire and
criticism to point out hypocrisy.

Michael David Cummings, better known to the world as Spider
One, creates something very interesting with the band Powerman 5000: the idea
of an alien from an invading force that revels in destruction and chaos. Indeed, as we'll discuss in a moment, not only revels, but seems to be in a continuous state of arousal from the carnage. Admittedly, the concept wasn’t fully formed on early albums, and has fluctuated
some (Cummings and the band tried to ditch the concept entirely during the early
2000s but have since returned to it), but overall the idea is the same: Bowie’s
benevolent, Stranger in a Strange Land-esque
alien has become malevolent, here. And there’s something to be said for that.

Why is this important enough to be a blog entry? One of the
most important jobs of science fiction is to use metaphor to reflect our own
lives back to us. Try to tell a story about slavery or sexism and people turn
away without listening. Dress those issues up as robots seeking their rights,
or aliens who discriminate against members of their own race that have no
gender and viola! People who would normally turn off are listening, and
thinking through issues of difference. Bands have used this aesthetic/discourse
before. Remember that the music of the 70s was filled with afrofuturism.

In order to understand what PM5K, as most fans call them,
are doing, we have to understand something about Spider One’s vocal approach.

Spider pushes the boundaries of what his brother (Cummings
is Rob Zombie’s younger brother) was doing with the band White Zombie. Both
bands embrace the pastiche of postmodernism—the inclusion of samples of
dialogue from horror movies, for instance. Spider pushes the idea further, though, by not
only ejecting hoarse vocals in much the same way Zombie does, but also using
what could be called an almost sensual moan-with-a-growl to it. A friend of
mine once said, “imagine if a black panther escaped from the zoo and decided to
sing in future-themed metal band.” Take a second and go listen to “Megatronic”
from the album, “Anyone For Doomsday?” Hear it? Go back even further and try “"Mega!!
Kung Fu Radio” from the album of the same name. That combination of sex and
violence drips with danger, and therein lies the seduction. Therein lies the
reason that I think the band is so important.

American culture of the late 20th/early 21st
century is horribly confused in regards to its violence and sexuality. We’ve
spent so long glorifying both that we wind up here: TV shows where
people are routinely raped, shot, or both, during prime time, but people march
in the streets to keep loving couples from marrying. See the problem? So, on
one level, we might “read” Powerman 5000s music as mindlessly reproducing that
culture…and trust me, many people do. But I think those people haven’t asked “why
the theatrics?” If Spider and company just wanted a hard rock band that
glorified violence, why bother with the costumes and space helmets? Apparently
there is plenty of room for violent, misogynist, homophobic metal bands out there.
Why bother dressing it up?

The dressing it up is the answer. We’re not supposed to “read”
them on that surface level. We’re supposed to find ourselves drawn in by the
sexy drawling purr that speaks of destroying the world, and then find ourselves
horrified that we agreed so readily. We’re supposed to find ourselves chanting
along with the epic, titanic choruses of songs like “Invade, Destroy, Repeat”
and then find ourselves horrified that we were so happy to join in the
destruction. The science fiction elements are a wink, much like Bowie’s, much
like Alice Cooper’s, much like “The Demon.” The art points to something more
important—Spider isn’t bearing his soul for us; any idiot with a laptop can do
that from their bedroom these days. Instead, this is art meant to make us
react. PM5K isn’t selling themselves, they are selling an idea. A way to take
the medicine.

After reading this, go back and listen to their cover of “Let
the Good Times Roll” on the album, “Tonight the Stars Revolt.” Go on, I’ll
wait.

And it’s good. In an era where far too many
people are making music in their bedroom that winds up so soporific one shouldn’t
operate heavy machinery while listening, and while that sort of thing is
selling VERY well, Spider One and company are still engaged with their project
of straight down hard rock combined with the character concept.

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